The countdown for the crucial floor test in the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha at 4pm on Saturday has begun.
A little over 24 hours after B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as chief minister of Karnataka, a Supreme court bench comprising Justices A.K. Sikri, S.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan on Friday snipped to 36 hours the period of 15 days granted by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to the BJP CM to prove his majority in the Assembly.
A pro-tem speaker will conduct the proceedings, the court ordered.
The early floor test apart, the bench had suo motu restrained the state government from nominating an Anglo-Indian member to the legislature and taking major policy decisions. The chief secretary and the DGP of Karnataka have also been directed to ensure the security of the elected candidates.
Congress leader and counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who argued his party's case in the Supreme Court, described the interim order of the bench as being historic.
While the immediate political case will end with the floor test, the Supreme Court will continue hearing the constitutional issue of the governor's discretion in inviting an elected leader to form the government and the extent of judicial review of this decision over the next 15 weeks or so.
Singhvi and his team had raised the issue of a pro-tem speaker to conduct the proceedings leading up to the floor test. Now, the Congress has written to the state government and Karnataka Governor Vala, against the appointment of K. G. Bopaiah of the BJP to this role, as it went against the convention of having the senior-most MLA discharge the role. The senior-most legislator in the current Assembly is R.V. Deshpande of the Congress. The Congress and JD(S), it appears, will press their charge on this issue by knocking on the Supreme Court's doors if necessary.
The crowded court room No 6 of the Supreme Court saw some high drama as well as lighter moments in the 90-minute hearing on Friday.
Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal urged the bench to consider a secret ballot. The plea was turned down, on the urging of the petitioners. “ Confidence votes are never held by secret ballot,” pointed out Singhvi.
Mukul Rohatgi, the counsel for Yeddyurappa first pleaded for 15 days, and gradually argued for 10 days, one week and finally pressed, in vain though, for “not before Monday.” The bench at this point said, “tomorrow.”
The chief minister's counsel also argued against the restriction on Yeddyurappa making policy decisions, but again in vain.
“Is this the madness for chair that he wrote a letter to the governor staking claim to form government even before the election results were notified?,” asked Singhvi, commenting that while the auspicious hour told to Yeddyurappa was 12.30pm, he had heard of Congress' moves in the court and decided to be sworn in at 9.30am.
In response to being asked, on Thursday, to produce the letter written by Yeddyurappa to the governor, staking his claim, Rohatgi read out the letters, which did not have numbers or names of the elected candidates supporting him.
“It is the most curious letter, defying laws of arithmetic. 'I with the help of others will form the government'. The mythical ghosts are the others. To what will the governor apply his mind? That 222 minus 117 is 104, and that the others will surface on the floor of the house after 15 days?” asked Singhvi. The Congress, on the other hand, had appended signatures and sent supporting letters to JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, who had added his own list and sent to the Raj Bhavan.
Conceding that it was a numbers game, Justice Sikri said they had been receiving a WhatsApp joke that a hotel owner should be sworn in as chief minister as he has 116 MLAs!
On Friday, while the counsel for Congress and JD(S) carried the 116 signed affidavits to the Supreme Court, they were not required to submit them.
Hardly had the Supreme Court pronounced its order, Union Minister for Human Resources Prakash Javadekar tweeted that the BJP had the majority and would win the floor test. Yeddyurappa's expression belied his statement that they had the numbers and would sail through. Yet he appealed to all elected leaders to vote according to their conscience. Other leaders of the saffron party also hoped many in the Congress and JD(S) would listen to their conscience and be guided by who has the mandate.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, in a press conference, said the Congress was out to murder the mandate, for which they knocked at the doors of the Supreme Court at midnight. The BJP is interpreting the mandate as a drop in the number of seats of the Congress and a rise in the seats won by the BJP.
India's judicial system came in for much praise yet again. Singhvi said the way the courts respond to urgencies like this demonstrated that justice never sleeps. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Supreme Court had once again “saved democracy and established that there is rule of law in India.”
Even as the Congress and JD(S) face the challenge of keeping their flock together and away from the temptations and threats the BJP may throw at them, the Congress' question remains—how will 104 become 112. The BJP leadership feels there are many in the Congress and JD(S) who understand the mandate.